TONS of pictures~ sorry! I even skipped over like 100 pics!
I know I am sooooooooo far behind on my blogging~ but life just has been a little crazy around here and I seriously never have time to even think about my blog! BUT I didn't want to forget what we did over Christmas break, so I am forcing myself to do it tonight!!
We had a great 1st week of vacation being home~ just doing things around here! I got a babysitter so I could do some random last minute things before some Christmas parties, as well as packing for our trip. It all began the same night we had our Huizenga Christmas party at mom and dad's. Jeff and I had the van basically all packed and ready to go~ with our whole house in the car topper!(haha!) and then after our party, we came home and Jeff Leep and the boys (Ross and Rob) met here to take off. They left at 11:30 Thursday night. They drove straight through and were quite proud of their new "record" of 19.5 hours of driving to get to Marco!!
Rebecca and her 3 kids, me and my 2 girls, and Sarah got last minute tickets to fly!! We found crazy cheap tickets to fly directly from GR to Fort Meyers!! So, we left on Friday at 3:30 and got to Florida at 6:30~ at the same time the guys got there! They picked us up and we got to Marco around 8!! Mom and Dad got 2 other condos as well as the 2 VerWys condos and that is where we set up camp for the week!! SOOOOO nice!!! Ross and Rob were with us in our condo, and they let Addi be in their closet so she could sleep through the night in peace and quiet! We were in the other room with Brinsley, but she was in our room and not in a closet~ which made for a long week of NO sleep! She must be a really light sleeper~ or she had something bothering her or wrong, because it was a LONG week with getting up with her over and over to try and get her to go back to sleep! Finally as the week went on, we put her in the bathroom and were able to close the door a bit more on her!
Saturday was Christmas day, but it was supposed to be such a nice day that we skipped our Christmas celebration and decided to enjoy the SUN, SAND and POOL all day! It was AWESOME! Addi just LOVED everything about it! She would walk and pick up shells, go right into the freezing gulf water, play in the sand, go for little walks, etc. She was a blast all week to watch!! So fun from a 2 year olds perspective! She also LOVED being with the family and more specifically "uncle Ross"! She is just infatuated with him!! Too cute!!!
Sunday~ was a bit cooler, but we made the most of it! The kids were given really cute t-shirts with their names on them and their age! Something we used to get as kids! So fun!! Then we kind of did our own thing and drove up to Naples and we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant~ The Cheesecake Factory!! At night we celebrated Christmas and had a really nice meal and the kids did presents.
Monday was going to be cool again, so we decided to all go to Mackle Park and play! The boys all played a very "friendly" game of basketball ~ while the kids played on the stuff and we went for walks. When we got back, it was warm enough to sit our on our porch while the girls napped~ and Jeff layed out by the pool. At night we went out to dinner all together to Porky's. Crazy with all 19 of us invading the place! :) We had a sibling game night when we got back and that went into the morning!! :)
Tuesday looked like it was going to be a bad day again, so most of the others went to Naples to check out the zoo~ but we hung out around the condo since we hadn't gotten much sleep the past 3 nights with Brinsley Anne!! Sarah and Ross actually watched her for us while we went down to sleep by the pool since the sun was at least out! It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day and we got lots of sun time! Addi went with the others and had a great time at a special park! At night we had a family movie night and watched ELF together! Stupid funny movie!!
Wednesday was predicted to be a gorgeous day~ so we decided to try the boat! SOOOO glad we did because it was a great day!!! We rented a pontoon boat and used the Mel and Me boat and packed a lunch and headed out! We walked the "finger" and had lunch which was so fun~ and then boated up to Naples and at an early dinner at "The Dock"! So fun, and so good~ but our ride was little cooler on the way home! The pontoon boat got a little lost, but thankfully was able to make it home! :) We had another game night at night!!
Thursday was our worst weather day! It was cold and cloudy almost all day! We were so glad we didn't wait to do the boat day this day!! We just hung out and didn't do much. Finally in the afternoon the kids were so stir crazy~ we did try the pool! It was pretty chilly, but we did it for the kids!! At night us and Ryan and Rachel were in charge of dinner, so we did chicken and our famous "peeled shrimp"!! Such a traditional meal in Marco!! We also celebrated Malachi and Dad's birthday. At night we all did another game night together in our condo. Half the group played Ticket to Ride and the others played Grandma and Grandpa's famous card game "Pound the Table"!
Friday we had another BEAUTIFUL Marco day! What a great way to end our week! We started on the beach and had our lunch out there while the kids and dad's made a really cool sand sculpture of our condo Sunset House North! Addi had such a great time helping out and playing around with the cousins! We went for a nice walk and then headed up to the pool! We swam and swam! Addisyn loved being in the water! At night we did our "picture" time and then got the kids in bed and Grandma and Grandpa stayed back at the condo while all the siblings went out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory for New Years Eve!
Saturday morning the guys and Sarah all left to go the the Michigan State football game up in Orlando. Becca and I stayed back and actually got a nice day to be down by the pool and did our best and entertaining and keeping the kids awake. We packed all up and got in one van and then had to head up to Orlando to meet the other guys! What a LONG 3 hours! Thankfully the kids all slept for at least 1 hour, but man were we glad we didn't have to do that the whole way home! We met the guys and finished our journey home! We made it through the night and got home on Sunday around 2pm! What a full day!!
We got home, unpacked the car, ate a little of what we could find around the house, and WE all went to bed at 6:45pm!!
Brinsley was really hard on this trip! I still don't know what it is! She just wont sleep and cries and cries! I worry that something is wrong, but don't know what!! She is really trying my patience as a mom~ because RUTHANNE on NO SLEEP is not a pretty picture!! I continue to give my frustrations with her over to God, but they are still there! Now she picked up a horrible cough that wakes her up in the night! Poor peanut!!
Addi on the other hand, seemed to really pick up on a lot of words/vocabulary while being away! She totally has a little personality and is not afraid to show it! Sometimes good and sometimes bad! She made me smile so much~ just an example was how she would always say "Thank you momma" whenever she thought we did something fun or cool! She ATE way too much candy and continuously asks "Addi nandy??" Addi nandy!!!!! She continues to talk in 3rd person all the time!! Addi this, Addi that!! She was a great "smile maker" where ever she went! She would say "hi" "bye" to anyone and everyone she would meet on the beach, in the hall, at the pool! SO CUTE!! She fought with her cousin Carter constantly on our trip which wasn't fun, but that is what happens when you are so close in age?? She loves to eat gum now, and makes sure to tell herself and me that she needs to "chew chew chew". On the way home in the car, I had a really precious moment where Addi was laying on the floor of the van with me in the middle of the night and I just got to lay there and stare at her! This precious, beautiful gift~ wrapped up in a little person~ and she is MINE! I just love her!
Can't wait for many more trips and memories that we get to make as a family!!
